Dr. Jack Cush updates the news and reports from the past week at RheumNow.com:

A multicenter study of early systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients examined manifestations at disease onset and found that certain clinical features can help to distinguish early SLE from other SLE‐mimicking conditions. 

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remain at risk for accelerated atherosclerosis, and important questions have yet to be answered, British investigators reported.

The AURA-LV trial assessed voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) and found that low-dose voclosporin may be successfully added to mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids to controll active LN.

Management of Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) can be challenging as supportive care and avoidance of corticosteroids are often insufficient options. A new series of case reports and literature review of steroid refractory HSP suggests that rituximab may be effective in reducing hospital admissions, overall steroid use, and is capable of inducing remission.

Frustration may be the word that best characterizes many scleroderma management plans - owing to a lack of trials, lack of agreement and lack of clear guidance on management.

The current MMWR reports that arthritis is seen in nearly one-third of adults with prediabetes and that more than half of such patients are obese and not engaged in regular physical activity.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the News and Journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.  Be sure to check out our upcoming meeting in March 2019 - RheumNow Live.

Boston researchers have found that in a large cohort study of patients receiving rituximab (RTX), most were not being monitored for hypogammaglobulinemia, despite the observed significant increase in severe infections and increased mortality in RTX treated patients.

As Dr. John Stone, MD, MPH recounted in his presentation regarding the new ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4-Related Disease (IgG4-RD), only 15 years prior, IgG4-related disease was an unknown entity in the medical community.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.

This past week in Chicago gave us a plethora of new and eye-opening research, people, KOLs, exhibits, sessions, guidelines, posters and a never-ending supply of coffee served in small paper cups.  ACR 2018 highlights for me included:

The ACR/ARHP 2018 national meeting in Chicago presented us with opportunities to learn more about inflammatory myositis. A particularly interesting lecture was HOT topics in myositis. There were a few abstracts on MDA-5 related disease and a few on new or repurposed medications for dermatomyositis which will be covered here.

As expected, this year’s ACR meeting saw an upswing in the number of abstracts on immune related adverse events from checkpoint inhibitor therapy compared to last year.

A number of abstracts at this year’s ACR in Chicago highlighted issues around pregnancy and contraception advice in routine clinical practice.

Rheumatologists tend to be a conservative bunch of people. We’re law abiding and we (mostly) follow guidelines. Which is fine when they are in the best interests of our patients, but what do we do when we fundamentally disagree?

There are many avenues for interdisciplinary collaboration within rheumatology, as our specialty encompasses every organ system and diseases with protean manifestations.

Dr. Jack Cush summarizes the news and reports from RheumNow.Com this past week and previews RheumNow activities at the upcoming ACR 2018 meeting in Chicago.

Analysis of the Black Women's Health Study shows that obesity as a teenager may be associated with increased risk of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) in adulthood.